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Document libraries are collections of files that are shared in SharePoint team Web sites (team Web site: A customizable Web site with features that help a team work together. The default site has pages for document libraries, announcements, and team events. Only members, specified by the site creator, can use the site.). For example, you could create a library of common graphics for a project or a collection of Microsoft Office Visio drawings of your business processes.

You can view document libraries from a Web browser (Web browser: Software that interprets HTML files, formats them into Web pages, and displays them. A Web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, can follow hyperlinks, transfer files, and play sound or video files that are embedded in Web pages.), such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, or as a Network Place (Network Places: A folder on a network file server, Web server, or Exchange 2000 server. You can create a shortcut to a Network Place to work with files there. Some Network Places, such as document libraries, have features not available with local folders.) from Microsoft Office System applications, or the Microsoft Windows desktop.

When you add or remove a file from a document library, the server updates the navigation links to it on the Web site. This ensures that anyone viewing the Web site can find the documents there. Team Web site members can subscribe to a document library so that they are notified by e-mail when a member adds or changes a file.

When you create a document library, you can specify the information authors must provide when they add a file to the library. For example, if you have a document library of product plans, you can require authors to enter the title, comments about the content, and the document's status (such as preliminary or approved). This information appears when you view the document library listing.

Once in a library, you can open and modify your documents from within Visio just as though they resided on any other network place or local drive.